DHS Baseball Coach Roger Day chosen for induction in the Ipswich High School Hall of Fame

Wednesday

Jul 23, 2014 at 5:12 PMJul 23, 2014 at 5:13 PM

By Joe McConnelljmcconnell@wickedlocal.com

Longtime Danvers High School baseball coach Roger Day is heading into the Ipswich High School Athletic Hall of Fame. He will be honored on Nov. 28 at the Hellenic Center of Ipswich, along with nine other legendary athletes, one coach and one school committee member, who comprise the 2014 class. Day was a 1973 Ipswich graduate after starring on its football, baseball and basketball squads.Day had the privileged of playing for coaching legend Jack Welch in football, starting at defensive back for three years and as a quarterback in his junior and senior campaigns. He was a shooting guard on the basketball team under the guidance of Dave Whipple. Walter Dembowski, father of Danvers High School and Holy Cross standout Wally Dembowski, was his baseball coach. Day was a shortstop and pitcher for Walterís teams.Day credits their influence for his successes as a coach today. "About every philosophy I have is because of them," he said. "Theyíd teach us fundamentals, discipline and a work ethic, and how to handle winning and losing properly."A lot of us went into teaching and coaching, because of the great experiences that we had with coaches like them," added Day, who has coached in Marblehead and Beverly, besides Danvers.It was a different era in high school sports, when Day suited up for the Tigers, and one that he fondly cherishes."I usually donít think much of these honors, but this one is pretty meaningful," he said. "Because this is where I grew up."There are a couple of his fellow inductees that Day remembers as an impressionable youngster growing up in Ipswich. Dennis Doty was an Ipswich football and basketball star in the late 60s, and, according to Day, he remembers him as a huge, big and rugged player. There was also Jeff Camacho, who graduated in 1970. Day watched him run the double reverse to perfection that the longtime Danvers resident has employed as a coach years later."[Camacho] ran that play better than anybody Iíve ever saw," Day said.But itís the overall memories of junior high school football that prepped them for the JV and varsity squads on the high school level, not to mention his scholastic basketball and baseball experiences that gets Day to wax nostalgia."[Football] was the social life of the town back then," he said. "Itís where everybody went every Saturday afternoon. Three or four thousand people would be at any one of our [football] games."Day started playing sports in his neighborhood, when he was three or four, and then it was time for Little League baseball and youth basketball at the age of six.When he was a sophomore, the football Tigers went 9-0 to win the Cape Ann League, but under a complicated point system Amesbury, with a 6-3 record that included losses to Pentucket and Ipswich, was crowned state champions. The football team was 8-1 in his junior year. North Andover pinned the loss on them that also snapped the winning streak that got its start when Day was an eighth grader.He was a three-sport senior captain, as well as Team MVP and CAL all-star in all three sports that year. When he was a senior, he helped lead the basketball team to the Tech Tourney at the old Boston Garden, where they lost to North Andover in a North semifinal game.Day has so many stories tucked away in his memory about a time when kids played sports continuously either on an organized level or in fun neighborhood pickup games. There were no social media, video games or Cable TV to occupy their time.On Nov. 28, Day will share some of those meaningful moments surrounded by the people he knew best growing up in a town that was passionate about its sports, and they will recall a prolific all-around athlete, who is now being recognized for his immense skills that has earned him the honor of being inducted into the Ipswich High School Hall of Fame.Also being inducted with Day into the Ipswich Hall of Fame will be Jeff Camacho (Wrestling, Football, Class of 1970), Rob Dolman (Track, Football, Class of 1991), Dennis Doty (Football, Basketball, Baseball, Class of 1969), Chris Farfaras (Football, Track, Basketball, Class of 1985), Carol Graffum (Basketball, Field Hockey, Class of 1975), Justin Lemire (Soccer, Track, Class of 1997), Cindy Scherer (Field Hockey, Basketball, Track, Softball, Class of 1976), Norm Sheppard (Football, Basketball, Baseball, Class of 1955), Jen Usher (Basketball, Track, Class of 1996), Bob Burke (Coached from 1957-66) and meritorious honoree George Geanakos (school committee member 1957-66).